g70 WINDSOFTHEGLOBE. 



error exists. It can be easily explained thus : in the tropical seas adjoining India 

 and Southern China, the direction of the wind is N. E. in winter and S. W. in sum- 

 mer, and seamen were accustomed to consider as monsoon regions those only where 

 winds of this direction were found. The further north Ave proceed along the coast 

 of Eastern Asia the more the summer winds become S. E. and E., and the winter 

 winds N. W. and W., yet there is good reason to consider Eastern Asia to the 60° 

 N. L. as belonging to the monsoon region, because here also the winds in winter 

 are from the land; in summer, from the sea, they bring dry, clear weather in the 

 first season, and rain in the second; and last, not least, at both seasons they are 

 very constant. (See Maps, Plates 5, 6.) 



For these reasons I consider China, Japan, Mantchooria, the basin of the Amoor 

 Eiver, and the western coast of the sea of Ochotsk, as belonging to the monsoon 

 region. 



As to the constancy of the winds I would remark, that the inner regions of India, 

 as, for example, the northwest provinces, Oude, Central India, Punjaub, are 

 generally considered as being situated in the monsoon region, yet the winds are 

 not so constant here as in Japan and the Russian Amoor Provinces. 



The continent of Australia may also be considered as belonging to the monsoon 

 region, only the periods are reversed, i. e., our winter is the rainy season there, 

 our summer the dry time. At this season regular S. E. winds are experienced in 

 the northern part of Australia; they may be considered as the S. E. trade, strength- 

 ened by the comparatively low temperature and high pressure on the continent. 

 They blow towards the Sunda Sea, and, further on, cross the equator, to appear as 

 the S. W. monsoon on the coast of South China. In our winter, on the contrary, 

 pressure being highest in Asia, and very low in the dry, hot interior of Australia, 

 the N. E. monsoon of China crosses the equator and appears as a N. W. monsoon, 

 bringing clouds and rain to the northern coast of Australia. In these meridians 

 the juxtaposition of the continents of Asia and Australia on the north and south 

 of the line, gives additional strength to the monsoons. Here no equatorial calm- 

 belt is found, neither in our summer nor in our winter, while it exists south of 

 India in the Indian Ocean, as there the monsoons can be said to be single, caused 

 by the Asiatic continent alone, while further east they are double, Asia and Aus- 

 tralia both exerting an influence. 



It may be asked why the whole Asiatic continent, being equally heated in summer 

 and the air rarefied, does not exhibit monsoons of equal magnitude coming from 

 the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans'? 



The reason is this : on the Arctic Ocean, pressure is also low in summer, though 

 probably not so low as indicated in Buchan's map of isobars, and besides it is not 

 steady, as on the tropical seas. Yet there is a northern wind coming from the 

 Kara Sea, and blowing through Western Siberia to Central Asia, but it is not as 

 steady as the monsoon of India and China. Besides, as this wind comes from a 

 colder region, it does not bring rain, and thus the secondary influence — condensa- 

 tion of vapor, which is instrumental in producing the monsoons of Eastern and 

 Southern Asia — is not effective here. There flows also a current of air, and a 

 very powerful one, from the Atlantic Ocean towards Central Asia; but, as it 



